Apple’s iPhone 7(?) will be announced this week and a rash of leaks this weekend suggest it’s going to be anything but ‘boring’, faster, slimmer and more waterproof than ever before, with better digital audio quality to boot. Here’s what we think we know:

Processor

The smartphone will offer an A10 processor. KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo explains the chip will run at 2.4-2.45GHz. A second set of claims from GeekBench suggest the new smartphone will deliver plenty of “oomph”, with benchmark figures way higher than previous models or any existing competition. The expectation remains that the processor will be manufactured by TSMC.

Memory

iPhone 7 is expected to offer 2GB RAM. The Plus model could host 3GB.

Waterproof

KGI claims the new smartphone will be waterproof, offering up an IPX rating. That’s enough to handle a shower, an accidental splash or brief immersion in water up to a meter deep.

Haptic Home

Weekend reports confirm plans to replace the current Home button with a haptic version. In combination with the removal of the headphone jack this should enable Apple to provide more usable display space on the front of the device, and potentially enable inclusion of a larger battery in a thinner form factor. (We’ve previously heard it will be 6.1mm and 6.3mm thin.)

Dual lens camera

12-megapixel wide-angle camera and a telephoto camera working together to deliver SLR-like image quality. This state-of-the-art camera will make use of some of the technologies Apple acquired with LinX Imaging in 2014. You can look forward to optical zoom and ‘light field camera applications. The flash will also be improved thanks to the inclusion of four rather than two LEDs.

Black is the new black

Apple will at last offer a black iPhone model, various reports this weekend claim. Apple being Apple, it won’t call them black, instead they will be shiny “Piano Black” and matt “Dark Black”. Some images of leaked labels this weekend lend a little substance to these claims. Space Gray? That’s gone.

More memory

There has been growing speculation Apple will offer a new 32GB entry level iPhone model, rather than the 16GB models we’re used to. Weekend reports confirm this, with 32GB, 128GB and 256GB capacity models expected, with 64GB and 16GB phased out.

Better 3D Touch

The 3D Touch system used is expected to work with even lower latency, it will feel more responsive than before. This ties in well with the many 3D Touch improvements within iOS 10. Apple will also introduce support for FeliCa NFC, the KGI analyst said.

Hit the road, jack

The loss of the headphone jack seems inevitable now, but while it is a controversial move it is interesting to note that it also matches current trends. Apple’s new Bluetooth AirBuds will allegedly also act as speakers, enabling you to make calls. Apple will include Lightning EarPods and a Lightning to 3.5mm Headphone Jack adapter in the box.

High hopes

Take this Digitimes rumor with a large pinch of salt, but Apple clearly has been reading these reports and is alleged to have increased production of iPhone 7 components by about 10%

Apple Pencil support?

Perhaps the most unlikely (though not impossible) claim is that Apple may enable support for the Apple Pencil in this release. Useful for taking notes, I guess, though I’d still favor an iPad Pro mini for that.

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